Severe cognitive decline is typically seen among aging adults (60+), but now we are seeing more individuals even in their 40’s starting to suffer from cognitive issues.

Many people in their 40s and 50s notice that their memory isn’t as sharp as it used to be and they struggle with things like recall of names and retrieving words.  If tested, they often still perform within the normal range on standardized tests and their memory changes don’t have a notable impact on overall functioning and activities.  The term for this self-report of mild memory changes is Subjective Cognitive Impairment (SCI) and the conventional medical approach is to typically write this off to “normal” aging and not offer any interventions or lifestyle counseling.  SCI can later progress to Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) where family and friends might start to notice a decline in memory, language, thinking, or judgment, but it still doesn’t have a significant impact typical daily activities.  There are currently no drugs approved for MCI and again, very little counseling is typically given regarding lifestyle changes that can slow or reverse the progression of MCI to Alzheimer’s or other dementias.  

It is critical to recognize the early stages of cognitive decline because research now shows that changes in lifestyle and controlling certain chronic medical conditions (such as insulin resistance and type II diabetes) may have a profound impact on restoring and preserving memory and cognitive functioning.

The use of conventional and functional medicine lab testing can identify many root-causes that may contribute to cognitive decline.  This testing becomes an important tool in crafting a precision medicine treatment plan for each person based on their individual risk factors and imbalances.